Most firefighters did not sign up with collapse crawls, water rescues and wilderness calls in mind, yet that is where a growing share of the work now sits.
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) statistics show that most fire department responses are not structure fires: of the 42.4 million calls received in 2023, only about 1.39 million- roughly 3%- involved fire.
With a larger percentage of calls related to non-structural incidents, fire departments are being called to perform more rescue missions.
Head injuries remain a serious concern in this line of work and the helmet needs to shift when the mission shifts from fire suppression to search and rescue (SAR).
The problem is that many firefighters still go into those missions wearing either a structural helmet or a basic hard hat that was never built around SAR movements or the range of impacts they create.
Doug Caffoe
This article looks at how primary helmet standards address these hazards and highlights the importance of reducing rotational forces linked to traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the future.
It also highlights the key certifications and features that belong in a modern firefighter SAR helmet.
The NFPA 1951 standard has guided technical rescue ensembles for more than two decades.
It details performance requirements for garments and helmets in collapse, trench, urban search and rescue (USAR) and similar incidents where the environment can be harsh and sometimes hot.
NFPA 1951 sets linear impact, penetration, retention and durability requirements for technical rescue helmets.
Doug Caffoe
What it does not address is rotational acceleration of the head. Its impact tests are linear (straight-line “drop” tests only)—there is no explicit rotational-acceleration performance requirement.
Some departments issue ANSI/ISEA Z89.1 industrial helmets for non-fire calls.
This standard covers both Type I and Type II models. Type I hard hats (think construction sites) are built around impacts to the top of the head and certain electrical exposure classes.
Type II hard hats add lateral impact tests.
However, neither option is designed for rotational acceleration forces, nor do they accurately represent the movements of firefighters during SAR operations.
The result is that both approaches bring trade-offs when the mission shifts to a long search instead of a short push.
NFPA-certified helmets often carry more mass and bulk to meet their durability and thermal objectives, which can add heat load and fatigue over hours of movement.
Doug Caffoe
A taller profile is also more likely to find every beam, branch and hatch in a tight space.
Conversely, light industrial helmets may feel cooler and less bulky, but they are not tuned for complex falls, glancing blows or head strikes in motion.
In practice, many SAR crews end up choosing between helmets that only partially reflect the dynamics of their work.
To fill those gaps, helmet designers often look to performance frameworks that were built around climbing accidents, whitewater impacts and combat-level blunt trauma.
For firefighters whose calls are rarely textbook, international sport and military standards address many of these deficiencies. Three of the most relevant are:
EN 12492:2012 (mountaineering)
This standard comes from the climbing community. Instead of just a single hit on top, helmets are tested for impacts from the front, sides, rear and above, plus penetration and strap strength.
That test profile lines up with how a rescuer might slip on a slope, fall on rubble or get swung into a wall, for instance.
EN 1385:2012 (white water sports)
This standard covers helmets for canoeing and other moving-water sports.
It looks at impact protection, coverage, stability, vision and how well the helmet stays on in and around water.
Swift water rescue teams need helmets that stay put, drain quickly and resist “bucketing” when they’re submerged (where the water “catches” the helmet and tries to pull it off).
AR/PD 10-02 (Advanced Combat Helmet blunt impact)
This US military spec sets strict limits on how much force can reach the head when a helmet is dropped on different parts of the shell, at different speeds and temperatures.
Doug Caffoe
In short, it’s a high bar for blunt impact protection.
Many SAR helmets aren’t tested to this level, even though head-to-ground or head-to-structure hits are common in search and rescue missions.
When fire departments look for SAR helmets that meet one or more of these standards, they can better gauge how those helmets will perform when a rescuer climbs and falls, gets worked in moving water or takes a hard hit from a wall or beam—on land and in water, from multiple directions.
Traditional drop tests focus on linear acceleration: a “dummy” head falls in a straight line onto an anvil and instruments record the peak G level (how hard it gets hit, measured in force of gravity).
This testing is useful, but it does not tell the whole story.
In actual SAR operations, a firefighter rarely strikes the ground in a perfect straight line.
Instead, the body twists, the head whips or the helmet catches an edge and those motions subject the brain to rotational acceleration forces.
Recent work from Team Wendy’s applied science group shows how important that rotational component is for preventing TBI.
Doug Caffoe
One example is the Dummy for Rotational Evaluation of Wearables, or DREW—a test rig that uses a head, neck and torso on a pivoting arm to recreate front, rear, side and whiplash-style head impacts.
It lets researchers see how different helmets and helmet liners behave when the head both stops and spins—not just in a clean vertical drop.
DREW studies have highlighted a counterintuitive point: stiffer is not always better.
Specifically, helmet liners that “feel hard” and pass legacy drop tests can still deliver more jolt to the head when rotation is involved.
Protecting rescuers means designing foams and shells that handle both the direct blow and the rotational “snap” that follows.
The shift toward search-and-rescue work is not slowing for the fire service. As you evaluate helmet options for your teams, a short set of questions can help:
Look for EN 12492, EN 1385 and ACH blunt impact in AR/PD 10-02 if you want clearer insight into multi-axis impacts on land and water.
Ask if the manufacturer uses test rigs or methods that capture rotational acceleration and whether that data informs liner design.
Put it in the hands of your crew. Have them climb, crawl, swim and load it with their usual accessories. Watch for stability, snag points, field of view and heat load.
SAR helmets are not structural helmets. Spell out when each should be used and train firefighters to make the right choice on every call.
Finally, look at how well the helmet supports the accessories your crews use.
A good SAR helmet should accept front shrouds for lights, thermal imaging or night vision on specialty teams; side rails for visors, eye shields or hearing protection; and where needed, hook-and-loop panels for top lights, infrared strobes and reflective patches.
Doug Caffoe
High-visibility colors such as red and yellow can also make it easier to spot rescuers in daylight, rain and on the water.
Firefighters will keep answering the call no matter where the mission takes them.
A SAR-focused helmet, tested to the right standards and informed by modern TBI research, gives them a better chance to come home with a clear head after every mission.
